We respect your
unique and creative vision
It is your book. Our job is to make it the best version of what you intended, not what we would have written.
Professional Editing, at the Level Your Manuscript Actually Needs
There are four levels of editing and they run in a fixed order. Buying the wrong one is the most expensive mistake an author makes before print. We read the manuscript first, name the level it needs, and quote that one — even when it is the cheapest thing on the list.
- The manuscript is read before any level is recommended
- Four levels, quoted separately rather than bundled
- A named editor at every stage, not a rotating pool
- Scope, rounds and exclusions agreed before work begins
How we work with you
How the Right Level of Edit Gets Chosen
Five stages, completed in order. Nothing is quoted until someone has read enough of the book to know which level of editing it needs, and we would rather lose the work than sell you a stage you do not need.
No level is named until the manuscript has been read
We ask for the full manuscript, or a substantial sample with a synopsis, and read it before quoting anything. An opening chapter tells you how someone writes; it does not tell you whether the structure holds up in chapter nineteen. The recommendation you receive is the one the reading supports, in writing, with the reasons.
Developmental, line, copy and proofread, and what each is for
A developmental edit works on the whole book: structure, argument, pacing and reader experience. A line edit works on the prose sentence by sentence. A copy edit corrects grammar, consistency and style. A proofread is the final check on the typeset pages. They are four different jobs, often done by four different people, and no one of them is a substitute for another.
The order is not a preference, it is arithmetic
Sentence-level work on a manuscript that still needs structural revision is paid for twice: once when it is polished and again when it is deleted. We will not sell a line edit into a book that needs a developmental one, and we will say plainly when the honest recommendation is another draft of your own before any of it.
One level, one scope, one fee
Each level is scoped and invoiced on its own rather than bundled into a package that hides what you are buying. The scope names the wordcount, the form the feedback takes, the rounds included, the schedule, the fee and the exclusions. If your book needs three of the four stages, you will see three quotes and can commission them one at a time.
The decisions made at one level survive to the next
Where you commission more than one stage with us, the style sheet and the notes travel with the manuscript, so your copy editor enforces the choices your line editor made rather than reopening them. Your coordinator stays the same person from the first read to the final proof, and knows what has already been decided.
Our commitments
What we promise every author.
Six commitments that appear in the scope document rather than the brochure. They matter most on a page like this one, where the easiest way to make money would be to recommend all four levels to everybody who asks.
We respect your
We communicate clearly, including when it is awkward
A named coordinator, timely milestone updates and bad news delivered early rather than discovered late.
We hold to professional production standards
Real typesetting, original design and files built to the specification your printer and retailers actually require.
We support you across the whole journey
From the first honest assessment to long after launch including the parts that are not billable.
You own your work, permanently and completely
Copyright, royalties and every production file. We produce and distribute; we never acquire.
We give you a scope
you can hold us to
Deliverables, allowances, revision rounds and exclusions written down before you commit a penny.
Ready when you are
Your publishing journey starts here.
Take your draft to the next chapter with Winfrey Publishing. Whether you know the book needs work and not what kind, have been quoted for a package you do not understand, or simply want a straight answer about whether it is ready, an editorial director is ready to read it. You will get a written recommendation before any work begins, and support you can actually reach on the telephone.
Get Free Consultation
or call +1 877 275 5624
How the work begins
A Clear Path From Uncertain Draft to the Right Edit
Four straightforward steps take you from a first conversation to an edit that matches what the manuscript actually needs.
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Book a discovery call
A straightforward conversation about the book, how far through the drafting you are and what you already suspect is wrong with it. We explain the four levels, what each one costs you in time as well as money, and which questions the reading will have to answer.
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We read and recommend
An editor reads the manuscript and writes you a short recommendation naming the level it needs and why, along with anything you could reasonably do yourself first. If the answer is that no paid editing is worth commissioning yet, that is what the recommendation says.
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The written plan
You receive a scope for the level recommended, on its own, with the wordcount, rounds, schedule, fee and exclusions named. Where the book needs more than one stage, each is quoted separately so you can commission them in order rather than all at once.
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The edit runs
A named editor does the work and your coordinator owns the schedule. Everything decided at one stage is recorded and carried into the next, so the book keeps improving rather than going round in circles between one editor and another.
The Independent Author's Guide to Professional Editing
A practical guide to editing levels, costs, schedules, publishing preparation and the questions worth asking before you hire a professional editor.
The guide explains what developmental editing, line editing, copy editing and proofreading each do, how they differ, and why the order matters. It also covers what to look for in qualified editors, how to compare editing credentials, when a sample edit is useful, and why a realistic editing turnaround time should be part of the quote.
It is designed to help you compare professional editing services even if you never commission us. You can use the same questions when speaking with an independent editor, a publishing company, or directories such as the Editorial Freelancers Association. The point is to make the scope understandable before money changes hands.
Our commitment
Why authors trust us with their professional editing
Any company can list four levels of editing on a page. What matters is which one they recommend when the cheapest one is the right answer, and whether that recommendation arrives in writing before the invoice does.
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01
We read before we quote
No level is recommended from a synopsis or a sample of the opening chapters. The reading comes first, the recommendation is written down, and it names the reasons rather than the price.
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02
The cheaper answer is allowed
If a proofread is all your manuscript needs, we quote a proofread. If it needs another draft of your own before anything, you will be told that instead of sold a developmental edit.
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03
Stages priced separately
Nothing is bundled into a package that hides which stage you are paying for. You can commission one level, see what it does, and decide about the next one afterwards.
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04
Decisions travel with the book
Style sheets and editorial notes move from stage to stage, so later editors enforce earlier decisions rather than reopening them and charging you to have the same argument twice.
The editing family
The Other Levels of Editing
Professional editing is the umbrella; these are the individual levels beneath it. Each is read for, scoped and quoted on its own, so you commission the one the reading recommends rather than a package.
Questions
Questions About Professional Editing
Four distinct levels: developmental editing on the whole book, line editing on the prose, copy editing for correctness and consistency, and proofreading as the final check on the typeset pages. They are separate jobs with separate scopes, and most manuscripts need two or three of them rather than all four.
That is what the reading is for. We ask for the full manuscript or a substantial sample with a synopsis, read it, and write you a recommendation naming one level and the reasons for it. The recommendation arrives before any quote you are asked to accept.
You can commission whichever level you want, but we will tell you if it is the wrong one. A proofread on a manuscript with structural problems produces a correctly spelled book that still does not work, and no amount of proofreading fixes chapter order.
Yes, and it is arithmetic rather than preference. Every stage introduces new text, and later stages assume the earlier ones are settled. Polishing sentences that a structural revision will delete means paying for that work twice.
No. Editors query rather than rewrite. Notes and changes arrive as tracked changes and margin comments you can accept, adapt or reject individually. If you want the writing itself handled for you, that is book writing or ghostwriting, and it is quoted separately.
It depends on the level, the wordcount, the genre and the condition of the draft rather than a flat per-word rate. We read the material and issue a written quote before anything is due, so the price is visible before you commit rather than discovered afterwards.
A single level on a full-length manuscript typically takes two to six weeks depending on depth, plus however long your own revision takes between stages. The schedule for each stage is confirmed in writing with its scope, and you are told early if it moves.
Yes. Fiction is read against plot, character motivation, point of view and the expectations of its genre; nonfiction against the argument, the chapter sequence and the evidence. We match the editor to the book rather than to whoever is free.
You do. You retain full copyright, every version of the manuscript and the editorial materials produced for you, under the terms of your written agreement. Winfrey Publishing provides editing services and does not acquire your book or take a share of what it earns.
You will be told, with the reasons, before you pay for anything. A manuscript that needs another draft of your own is not improved by an edit of the draft before it, and we would rather lose the engagement than take payment for work your next revision will supersede.
Talk to a publishing consultant
Your manuscript is ready for its next chapter
Thirty minutes, no obligation, and an honest answer about which level of editing your manuscript needs. If the answer is the cheapest one on our list, that is the one you will be quoted.